(Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers distributed the following article by Alex Hummel on January 4.)
OSHKOSH, Wisc. — It was doused more than three years ago, but some locals still feel burned.
Three new lawsuits seek payback for damages allegedly caused by a three-year-old chemical railcar fire that closed businesses and evacuated hundreds from their south-side homes for several days. All three beat a three-year statute of limitations deadline ticking down since the December 2000 incident.
Mario and Cindy Martinez, owners of Mario?s Place restaurant, 2505 Oregon St., filed a civil case in November against Clariant Corp., Hydrite Chemical Co. and Wisconsin Central Railroad Ltd. The suit alleges all three were negligent in the incident.
“What other options do we have?” said Cindy Martinez, who, with her husband, have long sought compensation from Clariant or other companies for spoiled food and lost business.
Clariant is the North Carolina-based manufacturer of the sodium hydrosulfite that ignited Dec. 16, 2000, in a lone railcar, spewing toxic gas over neighborhoods near Hydrite.
Like the Martinezes, Kitchen Specialists, 2721 Oregon St., intend to file a suit claiming the chemical fire damaged materials and botched business, said attorney George Curtis. Internet court records had no documentation of the case being filed as of Friday, but a representative with Kitchen Specialists said Curtis had paperwork in the queue.
And just down the road from the businesses lives Ruth Sanders, 3087 Oregon St., who filed civil suit Dec. 12 seeking damages for pulmonary and respiratory injuries.
Sanders? complaint alleges the defendants “negligently entrusted others with the product, creating an unreasonable risk to harm others and actual harm” to her and her insurance firms.
She could not immediately be reached for comment. No one answered the door at her Oshkosh home Friday. A court date has been set in March.
Curtis is representing the plaintiffs in all three cases.
At one time, the Martinezes estimated their losses at about $20,000. Court records disclose no sought amount. They filed suit on Nov. 6, 2003, alleging Clariant failed to properly “manufacture, package, distribute, provide warnings, instruct and ship” the sodium hydrosulfite. The material was packed in totes inside the railcar.
Clariant representatives were not available for comment Friday. The company organized insurance payouts in December 2000 to settle displaced residents? costs incurred after the rapid evacuation. About 700 homes were evacuated.
The Martinezes will be in court in February. Their suit also alleges Hydrite and Wisconsin Central “failed to properly receive and otherwise protect” the chemical. The companies? related insurance carriers also are listed as defendants.